Earning a set of angels wings...

My religious beliefs are as varied as the day is long.  Wow, that sentence makes me sound old, but it's pretty much the truth.  I try to keep those thoughts and beliefs to myself 99.9% of the time with the exception of letting you know that I may not believe what you do and you should therefore, respect that fact and not try to push your beliefs on me. 

This is not a post about religion.  I swear it's not. 

I am going to let you in on a little known fact about me and religion though.  I believe that when a person dies they go to heaven.  They sit amongst the clouds with their perfect sparkling bodies and converse with each other in endless conversations (only I would think that heaven is talking all. the. time!).  The are no longer in pain nor are they sad.  It's a constant state of contentment, happiness and joy in a place surrounded by loved ones from their earthbound lives as well as new loved ones. 

I believe in this because I have to believe in this. 

Especially now. 

Especially when a 3 -year old boy is taken from a community that loved and cherished every ounce of his little body.  When a small child who spent every day of his life on Earth fighting to live and breathe is called up to that place in the sky to receive his angel wings and his glittery dusting of sparkles. 

I have to believe that this little boy has a magical place to settle into because his parents are grieving.  This town is grieving.  A child is gone, too soon.  Way too soon. 

And we are once again in mourning. 

Please take the time to say a prayer or make a donation to your favorite charity today in the name of children everywhere who are dying long before their time.  And in the name of the parents who must stay on this Earth and mourn the loss of a child. 

My Girl Scout troop will continue their collection of aluminum pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House Charities in the name of this amazing 3-year old and his family in the hopes that other families in similar situations can benefit from their kindness. 

May you Rest in Peace, little man. 

And please feel free to converse with Geri.  She has great stories to tell. 

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…until you drown.

My blog has been my safe place.  A semi-anonymous place for me to dump my thoughts and feelings and such so that I can get through the day to day of life.  The place where I can document the lives of me and my husband and children so that someday, when I die, I will have left a legacy of who I am.  A place where I am me, totally, unapologetically me, even if a bit guarded.  A place where I feel accepted by the people that read my words.  Because no one has had a problem with what I’ve written…or at least they haven’t brought it into real life conversations and that is okay with me.

I use a website to track visitor ISP addresses so that I know where you are from.  I pay attention to who follows and reads me so that I am sure to return the favor and try out your blog as well.  I spend a lot of time on my blog even if I don’t write every day.  I have drafts saved on my dashboard and in Windows Live Writer.  I have ideas in Word documents on both my work computer and my home computer. 

The point?  I love my blog. 

Or at least I did.  Now, I am scared of what I put out here.  I am scared to write my words and feelings and let you all in.  I am scared to allow you to look into my life, to see my kids, to be privy to thoughts that I wouldn’t say to your face.

Because now I feel like my blog has been violated. 

I have a reader that doesn’t deserve the pass to be here.  Someone that I have never wanted to have the chance to meet my amazing family, let alone see pictures of my kids and know my inner most thoughts and feelings.  Someone who causes so much turmoil inside of me that it’s hard to hold a single conversation without anger or tears.

Someone who makes me want to close my blog, my MySpace, and my FaceBook.  Someone who makes me want to never touch technology again.  Someone who after 18 years, read my words and interpreted them in a way that suited him and not in the way they were meant. 

But your blog is PUBLIC!  Didn’t you ever think this would happen?

Yes, I did.  More and more of my family has found or been told about my blog.  Word has spread and I understood that.  I knew that.  I knew this could happen. 

But knowing and dealing are two different things.  Very different.  Knowing that somebody might be reading my blog is different that knowing they do in fact read it.  And that they are therefore privy to things that they otherwise would not be. 

I know, I know.  I am rambling.  But here’s the gist of this post.  I don’t know how to deal with this person being privy to my thoughts.  My immediate response what to shut down the blog all together.  After careful consideration and more tears than you can imagine, my decision is…

…I don’t know.  There is no decision. 

And this is where I leave you hanging in wonder until I come to terms with my situation and the people who read my extremely PUBLIC blog. 

MIA means Meditating in Aqua.

Wanna know why I haven't posted a blog in a few days? Yeah? This is why...

It is fricking amazing here! See all that blue sky? 10 am and over 70 degrees outside...Spring has finally found the state of South Dakota (my letter to Mother Nature must have garnered some attention) and I am in full Spring Fever mode. Take me to the doctor...in fact, make me walk on my own because it is just too nice to be crammed inside today (and yesterday, too!).

And, as if you couldn't tell, I am adoring this blue sky beautifulness...

I just wish my skylight were clean!

Caring waters flowing deep...

I am sure there are many different types of mothers. 

I fall into the category of the emotional mother.  The mother whose love shows outwardly in the tears she sheds during the moments that others could hold themselves together.  The mother who feels every one of her child's pains (mental and physical) as if they were her own.  The mother who knows instinctively the topic on the minds of her children without really knowing the details.  I am the mother in the parking lot that gets out of the minivan and is sure to give kisses and "good day" wishes to each kid every single morning without fail.

I am that mother.

I am also the fiercely protective mother who will come to the aid of my children when they are wronged, make sure they are getting the protection and education that they need.  The mother that is in close contact with the school teachers and counselors to make sure that my kids aren't slipping through the cracks.  The mother that expects to get my money's worth.  The mother whose children are protected without being sheltered.  Who knows about the bad things in the world from first hand experience and refuses to allow her own children that pain and suffering. 

Yes, I am that mother too. 

My love for my children shines brightly when the tears start to flow or the claws come out.  I have accepted that to be the way I operate.  Even when I am walking through the school building with tears running down my face or yelling into the phone as I stalk the grocery store aisles, I have accepted that to be my way to deal.  Embarrassing?  A little.  Do I care?  Not so much.  Because my kids are my life, my heart and my soul and that is just my love shining through all of the gloom and doom of a rainy Friday morning. 

Cryptic post?  Yeah, sorry about that.  Let's just say that treading new parenting ground isn't always easy.  In fact, it is rarely easy.  But we all make it through those unknowns because that is what we as parents do.  We keep walking ahead with our heads held high and hope that whatever we did, whatever we taught our kids, whatever example we set along the way was the best that we could do.  It may not have always been right, but we tried. 

And that is what matters.  On this one, I tried and then I cried.

Eggs only a son could love…

It’s Monday!  I don’t know if that sentence deserves an exclamation mark as I spent most of my time at work trying to put together a game table for a charity auction…and it’s still not done!  Ugh!

I opened up the fridge when I walked in the door today to find myself a little snack and the same thing happened today that did yesterday and the day before and the day before.  Eggs came rolling out around my feet in a torrential down pour of protein goodness.  Or badness, rather, because I am sick of eggs.  Read that again.  Sick. Of. Eggs.  Surely you can relate. 

For this year’s Easter Feast, I was charged with bringing (of all possible things) deviled eggs.  Easy enough since I hosted the egg dyeing extravaganza at my house, right?  I would surely have enough eggs.

One catch. 

I have never before made deviled eggs.  It’s just one of those things that my mom does so well that if I were ever to want such a thing, I would just call her up and ask her to make it (like potato salad, banana bread and overnight rolls).  But surely, I have watched enough times to be able to figure it out.  How hard could it be?

More difficult than you think.  *sigh*

To start with, did you know that sometimes eggs can be a bugger to peel smoothly?  No.  Well, they can.  A hint from my momma…buy the eggs a week in advance of the time you are going to boil them.  Older eggs peel easier than fresh ones.  See?  Here are my freshly peeled eggs.

Yes.  They are dreadful. 

I gave it two trial runs before attempting the real thing.  The verdicts were not so good, although I liked them all (I must have been craving eggs which is quite unusual for me seeing as how I almost never eat eggs-ask friends that I have camped with, I am a difficult one to feed).  Teensy didn’t like the first ones, Hubby thought the second ones had too much mustard and Bubba adored the third ones immensely!

All in all, I made it.  I made the deviled eggs, a relish tray filled with cauliflower, carrots, olives, pickles and ranch dip and my signature pinwheels that everyone loves so very much.  I fulfilled my end of the feast bargain and lived to tell about it another year…and no one died of food poisoning so I would call that a win.  Coming from my kitchen, that is a win. 

Even after I deviled 27 eggs for dinner, we ended up with ones from the hunt.  Eggs have been spilling out of my fridge for days and I am ready for them to stop.  But how do I get rid of hard-boiled eggs?  I had to do some research to figure that out and came up with some super simple ideas to share with you.

So without further ado, to Make this Monday Manageable (as well as, that Easter egg stash in your fridge) here are some ideas for you.

Tired of chocolate?  Try out these cookies for the kids lunches this week.  They’ll use up some of those hard-boiled eggs!

Hard Cooked Egg Cookies

Zest of 1 lemon + 1/2 tsp lemon extract
10 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter
4 hard cooked/boiled eggs, peeled
1 egg
3 cups flour
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cream together lemon zest, lemon extract, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor. Add in hard boiled eggs and process until fully incorporated. Mix in egg. Add flour and pulse until dough just comes together.

At this point you can chill the dough for a bit if your kitchen is very hot, otherwise roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/4 inch thick and cut into rounds with a 2 inch cookie or biscuit cutter. Dip the cut cookies into the egg white then dredge in the sugar. Arrange on baking sheet - cookies will not spread - and bake until just beginning to brown at the edges, about 12 minutes.

Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 4 dozen.

How about some potato salad to go with those steaks that you are dying to throw on the grill (since it is Spring and nice enough to finally cook outdoors)?  Try this.

Picnic Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds potatoes, cooked until just tender, cubed, cooled
• 5 or 6 hard cooked eggs, cooled, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped celery, optional
• thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumber, for garnish, optional
• .
• Dressing:
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise (a little more or less, as desired)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Combine potatoes, egg, onions, and celery. Stir in mayonnaise, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. (Stir the mayonnaise and mustard in a little at a time, until you have the flavor and consistency you like.)
Top with thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumber, if desired.
Serves 6 to 8.

I can hear you now.  “But what about the egg shells?”  I have just the answers for you.  Try one of these ideas…

• You can use them to clean things like vases which are hard to clean inside. Crush them up, add them to the vase with hot soapy water and swish it around.
• Clean and rinse saved eggshells and let them dry.  Crush up shells into little pieces. You can do this by putting them into a plastic baggie and gently pound them - the kids love doing this! Have the children put glue onto the poster board anywhere they want to. Give them the eggshells to sprinkle over the glue. Have them make patterns or designs. After the glue is dry, you can also have the children paint over the eggshells.
• Crush up the eggshells and place them in outdoor potted plants or the garden to add calcium and keep away snails and slugs.

All in all, I guess there are a lot of ways you can get rid of those eggs (throwing them at unsuspecting husbands is another good way).  Have fun using up all of your Easter remnants on this Monday.  I will sure be using my tips to make it more manageable for me today!